Center To Coordinate Special Fighting Forces Opens At Macdill Base

TAMPA — A controversial national command center designed to coordinate elite fighting forces was activated Monday at MacDill Air Force Base.

The center will plan and oversee military operations similar to the 1980 attempt to free hostages from Iran. Eight Americans were killed and three were injured when two helicopters collided in the desert.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Howard Taft, who spoke at the opening ceremony, blamed the mission's failure in part on the neglect of special forces in the 1970s that decreased their ability to carry out such missions.

''When we took office in 1981, special operations forces had suffered greatly from years of neglect,'' Taft said. ''And we paid the price for that neglect. . . . Today's activation of the U.S. Special Operations Command is a watershed in the effort to bring special operations forces back to health.''

The command center has been controversial since Congress ordered it in 1986 as part of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act. It was opposed by the Reagan administration and the military. But the administration did not veto the bill, and now officials appear to be endorsing it.

''Some of the senior leadersip of each one of the services believes each service should command its own forces,'' said William Taylor, executive vice president of the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington. ''Some in the services have been fighting and continue to fight any new idea that will change their specifications.''

Other critics in Congress and the military say the MacDill location is too far from decision makers in Washington in the event of a crisis.

But Taft said the Tampa air force base already has the facilities to house the new command, which will save money and time in setting it up. He also said the command center will have an office in the Pentagon and there will be no communications problems.

Some members in Congress also have been irritated about the administration's delay in appointing an assistant secretary of defense for special operations, a position created by the 1986 law. The Armed Services Committee is refusing to approve the nominations of any administration appointments to the Defense Department until the new position is filled.

''For seven months they committee members have been told that they will get a nomination, and they have been waiting and waiting,'' said Jeff Smith, a spokesman for Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

Taft said Monday that there has been no deliberate delay and that the appointee will be named in a couple of weeks.

The Reagan administration wants to spend $2.5 billion on special forces in 1988, a sixfold increase from 1981, Taft said.

There are 55,000 military personnel in the special forces operations, including members of the Green Berets, the Army Rangers, the Navy SEALS and the Special Operations Wing of the Air Force.

The forces will be a key to the nation's response to the ''burgeoning terrorist threat and intense regional conflicts,'' said Adm. William Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the ceremony.

Commanding the new center is Gen. James Lindsay, a Vietnam combat veteran with years of experience in special forces.